Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) &
Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER)

This book is a sequel to "The Chinese Learner: Cultural, Psychological and
Contextual Influences", which was first published in 1996 and has been
widely acclaimed. The 1996 book made a seminal contribution to the field by
focusing on the influence of cultural factors on approaches to learning in
Chinese societies. Chinese learners were clearly doing some things better than
their Western counterparts; but how was this achieved in large classes and
harsh educational environments?

The present volume extends the earlier book by focusing on the work of teachers. It analyses the ways in which teachers in Hong Kong and China think
about their teaching, and the ways in which they conduct their teaching.
Differences between Chinese and Western approaches to teaching are identified,
and lessons are drawn for educational reform.

Contents:

Setting the Scene

1. The Paradox of the Chinese Learner and Beyond (David A.
Watkins and John B. Biggs)

Teacher Thinking

2. Towards a Model of Teaching Conceptions of Chinese Secondary School

Teachers of Physics (Gao Lingbiao and David A. Watkins)

3. The Role of Assessment in Student Learning: The Views of Hong Kong and
Swedish Lecturers (Bo Dahlin, David A. Watkins and Mats Ekholm)